Power press



l J. C. LEDBETTER Oct.

POWER PRES S 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 14, 1925' INVENTQR v James ['amroal Ledfiel'l'ar Oct. 16, 1928. 77 1,688,049

J.YC. LED\BETTER i POWER i nnss Filed Aug. 14, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 2 lNV-ENTOR James [amrgd Led5effer Patented Oct. 16, 1928. p

UNITED STATES 1,688,049 PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES GAMRODIEDEBET'I'ER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO THE PROSPERITY COMPANY, INC., OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

POWER PRESS.

Application filed August 14, 1925. Serial No. 50,150.

This invention appertains to'ironing machines or presses and more particularly to power presses for ironing laundered goods as well as for garment seam and edge pressing work where considerable pressure is required on the garment.

An object of'this invention is'to produce an improved power press provided with wide opening jaws affording extended visibility of the work and a particular improvement is the timing means by which the pressing dura-' tion is adjustably timed or regulated to suit the requirements of the work at hand. A pendulous fan-shaped cam member has its cam'face adjustable to make the cam-way thereof long or short thereby producing a be. I An additional object is to produce a power press of very simple construction wherein I am enabled to use a continuously running motor capable of imparting intermittent pres sure operations and to this end a freely swinging penduluous cam membervtravels over a continuously running pressure drive roller for a predetermined period of time to maintain compressioh between the jaws on the work, and when the cam reaches the end of its travel and. the compression period is completed the pressing jaws are then automatically opened by the weight of the cam, and I provide a novel structure and mode of operation for securing these results.

Among other things, an important object of the,invention is to employ a continuously running motor as aforesaid without resorting" to the use of a clutchwhich is ofttimes employed in power presses to acquire the necessary start and stop motion. I acquire the intermittent press operation by an improved roller and cam combination and in doing so I take advantage of economy in power in employing a continuously running non-stop motor and eliminate the disadvantage ordinarily attending clutches and similar mechanisms. Thus by usinga continuously running motor without a. clutch, I greatly simphfy power presses and lroners.

The accompanying drawings illustrate an example of the invention serving to illustrate the principle and mode of operation and it is to be appreciated that changes may be made without departing from the principles involved. v

Figure 1 illustrates a side view of the pew long 'or short pressing period as the case may er press in closed position just prior to starting the pressing operation.

Figure 2-shows a detailed fragmentary sectional view of a pendulous cam member as taken on the line 22 of Figure 3; and'Figure 3 is a side view .thereof showing the graduated. cam member adjusted to perform a pressing operation of about 7 seconds duration.

Figure 4 shows a side fragmentary view of an adjustable fulcrum device which is used to 'regulateethe pressure or to reset the machine to take thick work or thin work.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional view developed on the line 55 of Figure 2 and further shows the adjustable fulcrum.

Referring now more particularl to the drawings for a more detailed description of the invention, there is shown a press frame which supports pressing members or jaws The lower pressing member, the buck or jaw 11, is mounted directly on the frame while the movable head jaw 12 is carried on the press lever 13, the press lever being fulcrumed at 14 on the frame 10. The press lever 13 preferably projects forward in the form of a handle bracket to carry a handle 15 by which the operator draws the head 12 down upon the buck 11 to close the press.

The rear end of the pressing lever supports a pendulous swinging 'cam' member which is made with a cam face 17 formed on the lowermost swinging edge of two cam frames 18 and 19 which are movable relatively one to the other for adjustment purposes to vary the pressing duration. The two cam frames 18 and 19 are pivoted on a common center or shaft 20 at the rear end of the pressing lever 13 and depend pendulously from the press lever. The two frames 18 and 19 are adjustably movable relatively one to the other about the swinging center point 20 and suitable means foraccom lishing this purpose'and for locking them 1n any desired adjusted position will now be described.

A slot 22 is formed in one of the frames for example the cam part 18 and is made concentric with the pivotal center 20. A lock nut and clamp bolt 23 is passed through the slot 22 and through a perforation formed through the cam frame 19 therebysecurely anchoring the two cam frames 18 and 19 together in adtially long if desired and then the clamp means 23 is set up permanently to hold the parts in position. The length of the cam face 17 fixes the pressing duration.

One of the cam frames, as for example 19, is graduated as observed in Figures 1 and 3 so as to aid in determining the amount of spreading adjustment desired in the "fanshaped cam frame. The graduations may read in seconds of time beginning for example with 6 exposed to View or indicated by the right-hand lower radial edge of the cam frame 18 to read in seconds, for example 6 seconds or 7 seconds, of elapsed time or pressing duration when the cam frame is spread apart. p

One of'the cam frames is provided on the upper end thereof with an integral weight arm 21- carrying a counterbalance weight 25. The total value of the weight 25 and that of the cam frame 18 and 19 is preferably heavy enough to over-balance the head 12 and therefore lift it high above the buck 11 thus opening the press under the influence of the pendulously supported weight 25 as well as the weight of cam frame 18-19. The weight of these members therefore hold the press normally open to permit the operator to remove and replace the work. Furthermore, the weight 25 acts to normally swing the lower end of the cam frame toward the front of the press where it comes to rest against a stop member awaiting the inception of a. pressing operation.

Motor means, as for example an electric motor 27, is provided and the motor means drives through a gear reduction 28 and through a shaft 29 to a worm pinion 30 which engages a worm wheel 31. A power shaft 32 is fixed to the worm wheel 31 and rotates at comparatively slow speed due to the gear reductions.

The shaft 32 carries an enlarged pressure roller 33 which may in fact constitute a hard steel sleeve 33 anchored to the outer end of the power shaft 32 and over which runs the camway 17.

The cam-way 17 is adapted to roll rearwardly or swing clock-wise about the center point 20 and run across the roller 33 thereby lifting upwardly with great force on the rear end 0 the press lever 13 and thus producing high compression between the jaws 11 and 12. It is desirable to be able to vary the imposed jaw pressure, for it times work of different thicknesses is treated between the jaws. To this end the distance between the two axes 20 and 32 should be adjustable in small limits to produce more or less pressure between the press jaws and means for accomplishing this purpose will now be described.

The shaft 20 has a nut 36 or other suitable turning means fixed thereto by'which' it may be rotated eccentrically in cam frame hubs 37 formed integrally on the upper end of each cam frame 18 and 19. Each separate cam part 18 and 19 is integrally formed at its upper end with a hub 37 and the two hubs are placed side by side and freely pivot on the shaft 20. The rear end of the press lever 13 terminates in a forked hub structure 38, there being two spaced press lever hubs 38 in between which the cam frame hubs 37 are disposed. Aneccentric 39 is rotatably confined in each press lever hub 38 and each eccentric 39 is anchored to the shaft 20. In fact, the nut 36 already mentioned is preferably made an integral part of the eccentric 39 so that by rotating one of the nuts 36 at either end of the shaft 20, rotation is imparted to the shaft and to both cams 39 which changes the relative location of the shaft center 20 and raises or lowers it in respect to the power shaft 32 thereby elevating or lowering the cam face 1 in respect to the roller 33. Thus the distance between the two centers 20 and 32 is slightly varied to enable the press jaws to take thick or thin work and to impose the desired adjusted pressure thereon. A set screw 40 is advisedly mounted in the press lever hub 38 and is tightened down on the eccentric 39 to hold it in desired adjusted position.

A manually operable control handle 42-is mounted under the front edge of the press table 43 and is secured on the forward end of a thrust rod 44. This thrust rod 44 is confined in a guide sleeve 45 which is set in the press frame 10 by set screw 46 and held in fixed position. A spring 47 pressing against a collar 48 maintains the handle 42 at its most limited forward position and maintains a roller 49 as well at its most'forward limited position. The roller 49 constitutes a stop against which the front radial edge of the cam frame 19 normally rests and the counterbalance weight 25 holds the cam frame up against the roller 49 thereby uniformly holding the cam way 17 out of contact with the pressure roller 33 until such time as the operator may be ready to initiate a pressing operation.

Reference is now made to Figure 2 for a further understanding of the structure of the cam frame 18-19 and it is observed that the vertical or upright frame part 18 and 19 is offset somewhat from the cam-way 17 which is to say the frame 18 holds the cam-way 17 in alignment with the pressure roller 33, but the press frame 18 itself is disposed out of alignment with the roller 33. This offset arrangement permits the cam 18 to pendulously hang down alongside the end face of the roller 38 and swing freely of it without contactin or interfering therewith and so when the press head 12 is high above the buck with the result that the cam frame 1819 is hanging roller 33 regardless of whether the press is open or closed. The weight 25 acts to swing the cam frame to Figure 1 position and hold it there and to lift the head high above the buck and hold it there.

In the use of the press, the operator spreads work upon the buck and draws the head down which brings the machine into closed position illustrated in Figure 1. He next thrusts rearwardly on the handle 42 thereby rearwardly displacing the cam frame 1819 and overcoming the weight 25 just enough to bring the rear lowermost edge of the cam-way 17 in contact with the roller 33, and immediately the roller engages the cam-Way 17 with the result that it starts slowly rearwardly traversing the roller 33 and continues this motion until the entire working face of the cam 17 has traversed the roller thereby swinging the weight 25 back to high abnormal position and imposing high jaw pressure on the work. The operator having released the bandle 42, it is again returned to its normal front position by the spring 47. Vhen the camway 17 has been fed all the way across the roller, the front edge of the cam drops down off the roller with the result that the weight of the parts suspended on the shaft 20 quickly lifts the head 12 thereby completing the pressing operation and simultaneously the weight .25 moves the cam frame forwardly past the end of the roller 33.

The'duration of the pressing operation is regulated at the will of the operator by adjusting the spread of the cam frame to any desired number of seconds pressing duration for with the cam spread far apart it follows that more time is required for the cam to traverse the roller,'and thus a longer pressing period ensues, and the converse is true by drawing in on the cam frame and shortening its face 17.

What I claim is:

1. A pressing machine comprising in combination, motor means, a drive member connected with the motor means, a cam made with a working surface adapted to traverse the drive member which forces the cam to one side of the drive member, means forming part of the cam structure which enables it to travel back to its original position without being acted on by the drive member, pressing jaws adapted to be acted on by the cam, and means forming part of the cam structure enabling it to be adjusted and regulated as to the time it will require to pass over the roller.

2. A pressing machine comprising in combination, motor means, a drive member conneeted with the motor means, a cam made with a working surface adapted to traverse the drive member which forces the cam to one side of the drive member, means formingpartof the cam structure which enables it to travel back to its original position without being acted on by the drive member, pressing jaws of the cam structure which enables it to travel I back to its original position without being acted on by the drive member, pressing jaws adapted to be acted on by the cam, a handle on which the operator places one hand to close the press, a safety control member operable by the other hand of the operator to start the cam in engagement wit-h the drive member, and means enabling the came surface tobe shortened or lengthened.

4. A power press comprising in combination, cooperating pressing jaws, a press lever to open and close the jaws, a fan-shaped cam pivotally attached to the press lever, motor means, a power .roller driven thereby, said cam having a working face adapted to travel over the power roller causing the cam .to produce jaw compression while traveling in one direction, a weight fixed on the other arm of the swing link and adapted to urge the press open and urge the cam away from the power member when the cam completes its travel, and adjustment means forming a part of the cam-shapedmember by which its spread is altered to vary the pressing duration.

5. A pressing machine comprising in combination, cooperating pressing members, a

pendulous cam, means attaching the cam to a' pressing member, motor means, a roller driven thereby and cooperating with the cam .to produce pressure, and means constituting a press timer. cooperating with the motor means and included as a part of the 0am to regulate the pressing duration.

6. A pressing machine comprising in combination, cooperating pressing members, a

pendulous cam, means attaching the cam to a pressing member, motor means, a roller driven thereby and cooperating with the cam to produce pressure, and means comprising a part of the cam to regulate the length thereof.

7. A pressing machine comprising in combination, cooperating pressing members, a: pendulous cam, means attaching the cam to a pressing member, motormeans, a roller driven thereby and cooperating with the cam to produce pressure, and said cam comprising two frame members each of which has one end pivoted on a common center and the other ends being cam shaped and said frame members being movable one in relation to the other about the common center to vary the length of the cam.

8. A pressing machine as defined in claim A 6 characterized by graduation marks aflixed to the regulation means to indicate the pressing duration.

9. A pressing machine as defined in claim 7 characterized by graduation marks aflixed on one of the frame members indicating in units of time the duration of the pressing operation.

10. A pressing machine comprising in combination, cooperating pressing members, continuously operating motor means, a roller continuously driven thereby, a two-part cam made fan-shaped. said two parts being adjustable one on the other to vary the length of the cam. and means connecting the cam with one of the pressing members.

11. A press comprising in combination, pressing jaws, a lever to open and close the pressing jaws, a fan-shaped cam having one end pivoted on the lever, means forming the cam structure which permits its cam face to be adjusted as to length, a roller adapted to engage the cam, and means to revolve the roller and cause the adjustable length cam face to traverse said roller, a handle to close the press, a safety handle to start the cam onto the roller, and means normally urging the cam away from the roller.

12. A press comprising in combination, pressing jaws, a fan-shaped cam having one end pivoted on the lever, means forming the cam structure which permits its cam face to be adjusted as to length, a roller adapted to engage the cam, means to revolve the roller and cause the adjustable length cam face to traverse said roller, and means operatively connecting the cam with one of the pressing aws.

13. A press as defined in claim 11 charac terized by graduation marks made on the cam to indicate the pressing duration.

14; A" press as defined in claim 12 characterized by graduation marks made on the cam to indicate the pressing duration.

In testimony whereof I aflix by signature.

JAMES GAMROD LEDBETTER- 

